Down to Business: Seven myths about trade show marketing

Andy Singer

7:05 PM, Mar 4, 2014

I was fishing the other day with some friends and we had a brief discussion about trade shows. My friend Rex had a good grasp of what works with trade shows, but I have noticed over the years, not all business leaders do.

Later that day, I started thinking about all the trade show marketing myths I had heard over the years.

Here are the most common seven:

1. “They” will wonder why you are not there: This is my all-time favorite. I’ve heard marketing managers make this false claim many times. Customers certainly won’t wonder why your company is not at a show and it will not reflect negatively on the company in some way. It’s definitely not a reason to attend a trade show.

2. The more you spend, the more you get out of a show: There are efficient ways to spend your trade show budget and inefficient ways. The meals and entertainment expense line is certainly one area to closely review. As an example, if two employees go to Las Vegas to “walk” a trade show, they probably don’t need to rent a vehicle, much less an SUV.

3. Every show is a good show: Whenever I have asked a sales team how a show was, the response is: “It was a great show.” Obviously not every show is a great show. A useful tool you can implement is to track new contacts in your pipeline from the show and see what, if any, revenue flows in over the next year. It’s a great tool to determine if a show is truly providing new business, or is just a boondoggle. When considering shows your company has not attended, you can ask trusted contacts in your industry that have attended the show what their experience was.

4. We have to have a booth at the show: While some key trade shows may require a booth, there are others where it is more cost effective to have a couple of team members attend and walk the show floor. As an example, a show where you are not likely to find new customers, but many of your existing customers have booths, might be an ideal choice to attend in lieu of being an exhibitor.

5. The trade show recap meeting can be held back at the office: If you are making the investment to have a booth, you should have a brief meeting once a day to review and record what your team has learned. Memories can get hazy by the time everyone is back in the office. Trade shows can be an excellent source of competitor and industry information. Having these daily meetings sends the right message to your team about how important this intelligence is.

6. Media contacts are not that important: I have been amazed over the years at how many companies I have seen ignore the media at trade shows. Assuring you have some face time with members of the media in your industry should be high on the priority list and can lead to good coverage for your company in the future.

7. Little planning is required for small trade shows: This attitude can result in poorly executed shows and frustrated sales people. It’s important that for each trade show, no matter the size, to develop a detailed and repeatable process. At my businesses I have always designated someone in marketing the trade show coordinator and they have a detailed checklist and binder on each show. Part of the process is meeting with product management, sales and shipping to assure everything flows smoothly and on schedule.

Trade shows are a significant financial investment that provides an opportunity for both new revenue and cost savings. It’s wise to manage them vigilantly. With careful management your company’s return on investment at trade shows can be greatly enhanced.

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Andy Singer is the president of Singer Executive Development, a professional training and development company that helps optimize business performance of employees and executives. They work with companies of all sizes optimizing performance and key skill sets in areas such as sales, marketing and operations. Singer is also on the board of directors for several organizations. He can be reached at andy.singer@singerexecutivedevelopment.com.